Duniway models community service

Duniway models community service

Posted on 10/23/2015

For the first time, Duniway has performed its Days of Service project in the fall. In its third year, the program involves all students in a variety of ways from clearing invasive species from local parks and trails to volunteering in elementary school classrooms to sorting donations for distribution to area food pantries.

This year, three-day event was moved from the spring to the fall to create a sense of unity from the beginning of the school year, according to Maria Drennan, the school’s counselor who is part of the leadership team that organized the event.

Drennan said the school staff also hopes to “set in motion from the start the culture of kindness we intentionally are creating.

“We send messages that the students do not become community members when they are adults – they are community members now,” she said. “This project helps them invest in their community and experience that what they do matters and affects others.”

The three days of service are separated by grade, with each class level spending one morning at a specified site performing some sort of volunteer task. The event is reinforced with Duniway’s Bridges program, which focuses on academics, character education and seasonal activities.